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Lafarge Africa to produce 12MT of cement annually

By BusinessNews Staff on July 13, 2014

The newly created Lafarge Africa, comprising Lafarge Cement WAPCO Plc and Lafarge South Africa Holdings, will have a production capacity of 12 million metric tonnes of cement when it becomes operational, the company has said.

The company said at its annual general meeting in Lagos on Wednesday that the capacity would be derived from Lafarge WAPCO with 4.5 metric tonnes and Lafarge South Africa, United Cement Company of Nigeria, Ashaka Cement and Atlas Cement also contributing 3.6, 2.5, one metric tonne and 0.5 metric tonnes, respectively.

It added that projects were also underway to expand the capacity to 17 million metric tonnes by 2017, with the South African arm of the company providing operations in aggregate.

The proposed Managing Director of the new Lafarge Africa Plc, Mr. Guillaume Roux, said the creation of the company would create an opportunity for it to be the better in its different areas of operation.

“The broader the geographic coverage means that Lafarge Africa will be better positioned to serve its customers more widely. It also places the company in a stronger position to be able to benefit from the economic growth and development opportunities available in both Nigeria and South Africa,” he said.

The Chairman of the Board of Lafarge WAPCO, Chief OlusegunOsunkeye, said the company was encouraged by the increasing stability in the country, particularly in the area of government policies.

He said, “The primary benefit of the transaction is the creation of a solid platform with considerable scale that can be leveraged to drive future growth. At the conclusion of the transaction, an enlarged company will emerge with a presence in Africa’s two largest economies, Nigeria and South Africa, increased installed capacity and an expanded portfolio of products.

“This will place our company in a better position to leverage existing and emerging opportunities in Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa; a region characterised by rapid economic growth, increased urbanisation and growing income levels.”

Osunkeye said the domestic demand for cement in 2013 was estimated at 21 metric tonnes, up by 14 per cent on the estimated demand for 2012.

“This is the largest expansion seen in the last five years, where year-on-year growth in demand averaged approximately 10 per cent,” he said.

He added that the awareness and actions being taken at all government levels to address housing deficit remained a veritable opportunity to expand the operations of the company.

[Punch]

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